Fireproof floor.



UNrr-ED STATES' PATENT' OFFICE.

WILLIAM N. wIGI-rr, ioF NEW YORK, N, Ya

F|REPR00F FLooR..

sPEoIFIcA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,482, datea .Tuneeo, 1903. Application filerl July 9, 1902- Serial Na. 114,868. (Nomodel..`

T0 all' whom it may cmwern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM N. W1GHT,a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough ofManhattan, city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinFireproofStructures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention provides an improved fireproof floor composed of a'combination of concrete with embedded metal fabricjso arranged that theformer takes the compressive and the latter the tensile stresses whichoccur between the supporting I-beam's.

It provides also an arrangement of the strands in the Wire fabricemployed whereby great tensile strength may be obtained in any fireproofstructure and whereby a great span between I-beams and a shallow floorare made possible Withoutv sacrificing the strength of the structure.

It provides also a floor having various other i points of advantagewhich are set forth in the following specification.

In the accompanying drawings, showing embodiments of my invention,Figure 1 shows a cross-section of a complete floor built according tolny system. Fig. 2 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and iare across-section and a plan, partly in section, on 4= 4, Fig. 3, showing indetail the arrangement of the Wire fabric employed. Fig. 5 is across-section of a modification, and Figs. 6 and 7 are details of thefabric viewed from opposite sides. Figs. 8 and 9 are cross-sections ofanother form of the invention, the latter showing a single bay on anenlarged scale.

In the construction of my improved floor the usual supporting-frameworkof I-beams and walls is provided. The centering or false Work on whichthe floor is to be molded is arranged in'- any usual way. `Vlfire fabricof a construction peculiarly suited to the purpose is then hung over thebeams and al lowed to droop in a catenary between them. Preferably theWire fabric is made in sheets of considerable length and is strungcontinuously from one wall to the other, as shown in Fig. l. Preferably,also, it is fastened at the wall end to a short strip of similar fabricembedded in the wall and projecting slightly therefrom. Concrete is thenmolded about the Wire fabric in such shape as to be supported on thelower flanges of the I- beams and to slightly cover the lowest point ofthe Wire fabric. The upper floor-surface is madejust high enough toefiectually cover the Wire fabric where it passes over the upper flangesof the I-beams.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the walls of the building.

A' represents partitions.

B represents I-beams partly embedded in the wall a'nd formingpractically a part thereof.

'C represents intermediate I-beams supported only atintervals in theusual way.

D is the concrete body of the fiooring, forming substantially a plate orbeam between the I-beams and having Where deep I-beams are used, asshown, depending end portions cl, supported at the lower flanges of theI- beams.

The concrete structure described has so little tensile strength that forconsiderable spans it would require to'be made very deep unlessreinforced by material having considerable tensile strength and arrangedin such a way as to utilize its tensile strength effectually. Thisreinforcing material I providev as a Wire fabric, which in the form ofmy floor illustrated is disposed in two sheets E E'y and is attached atits ends to short strips of similar fabric E2, embedded in the wall andpreferably having its end 82 bent into one of the Vertical joinJts ofthe wall. In order that the tensile stress shall be commun'icateddirectly 'from the load to the I-beam through the wire fabric Withoutbeing communicated to the concrete and without any yielding by the Wirefabric, it is necessary that the wires which extend from I-beam toI-beam shall be without small bends, curves, or projections-that is tosay, in a sheet of the fabric when laid flat the wires which are toextend between the I-bearns should be perfectly straight. When hu'ngover the I-bea'ms, as shown, they assume the position of a catenary,which is the theoretically perfect curve for the transmission of anaverage load to the beams; but the catenary is of such slight curvaturethat for` the purpose of preventing injury to the IOO concrete when thefabric is strained in tension the catenary is equivalent to a straightline.

In structures of the class to which my inventiou relates much dependsupon the material and construction and arrangement of the reinforce. Myinvention provides astructure in which numerous advantages are securedby reason of the particular construction of reinforce used independentlyof the specific arrangement of the concrete and of the reinforcingfabric as a whole. The fabric which I propose to use is made of two setsof wires, which for the sake of distinction I call longitudinal and"transverse, respectively. These wires are arranged at right angles toeach other, and an additional member, constituting a binder, is used totie them together at their crossing-points, so as in use to maintain theproper spacing thereof and to transmit to one set the strains on theother set. In order that the tensile Stress shall be communicateddirectly from the load to the support through the wire fabric withoutany yielding by the wire fabric, the wires, at least between theircrossing-points, (at which points there is no possibility ofstretching,) are straight, (or in catenary curves,) with the advantagesabove described. Preferably single wires are used, and each set islocated wholly on one side or the other, as shown. Such a fabric may bemade in continuous long sheets, making possiblea larger monolithic areaas compared with the short sheets of reinforcing fabric previously used.The fiber stresses are direct and not distorted, as with the twistedwires sometimes used. T-he joints at the crossing-points are superior towelded joints, since they have not been subjected to the attendantheating and chilling which destroy the Superior quality of the drawnsteel ordinarily used. Therefore there is no injury at any point of thefabric in the making thereof. No patching or splicing is necessary. Whencut, there is no waste, and a new selvage may be easily and quicklyformed by bending back the straight single ends cut. It is speciallyadvantageous when used double or triple, as hereinafterexplained indetail, has a perfect selvage, and is of equal strength at all points,showing economy in material.

My improved structure is quite distinct from those built according tothe well-known Monier system, in which stout rigid bars are separatelyerected in place and sometimes cross each other and are tied together byfine wires of just sufficientstrength to hold them in place until theconcrete can be molded around them, but not to take any of the strainsto which the finished structure is to be subjected. The fabric in mystructure is formed before use in continuous sheets, which facilitatesthe building of the structure, and the wires thereof being slender andflexible, as distinguished from the stout rigid rods or bars of theMonier system, and being therefore at more frequent intervals, provide areinforce of great tensile strength and at the same time reduce toaminimum the weakening of the concrete along the lines of the wires andthe distortion of the metal under heat and facilitate manipulation ofthe fabric in use. The fabric in my structure is further distinguishedfrom the Monier reinforcement in having binders not merely of sufficientstrength to hold together the heavy reinforcing members proper,butofapproximately the same strength as the main wires of the fabric,because in the finished structure, as well as in the forming of thesame, they serve to transmit the strains on one set of wires to thewires of the other set, thus distributing each strain over the entirefabric and making all the wires act in conjunction. The heavy bindersalso form a well-balanced fabricthat is to say, one in which the severalelements are well proportioned to each other, so that neither one willgive or yield much sooner than the others. They likewise by theirstiifness hold the longitudinal wires with a strong frictional grip, soas to prevent thelatterslipping through the joint, and they maintain theangle of the two main wires, so as to prevent accidental skewingthereof, a fault frequently observed in other fabrics when used in smallsections. They likewise strengthen the fabric to stand the rough usagewhich it necessarily receives in handling and setting in place if thework is to be done with a fair degree of expedition. An example of sucha fabric is shown from opposite sides in Figs. 6 and 7, in which c'represents the longitudinalstrands running transversely between theI-beams and preferably from wall to wall, asshowninFig.1,andwhichtransmitthe main tensile strains to the snpporting-framework. Forthe purpose of spacing these main wires and incidentally taking thesecondary stresses which occur in the direction parallel to the I-beamsare used wires 83. At the side wire e/ of each separate strip wires 83are fastened by being wound around the wire c', as at 84. Atintermediate points the wires c' and 83 are connected by bending thelatter over the former and binding them together-as, for example, by ashort wire 85, wound spirally around the wire 63 and crossing at itsmiddle point the wire e', as shown best in Fig. 7. With such a fabricthe joints along the Wall are very easily made, the strands being allllocked in connection. t

Along the line of the wire fabric the cohesion of the concrete isslightly weakened, and this weakening will depeud in a great measureupon the size of the meshes in the wire fabric used. An increase in thenumber of wires in a given space therefore strengthens the fabric andweakens the concrete if a single fabric be used. I have avoitled thisdifficnlty by arranging the metal fabric in two lines, so far separatedthat the weakness of the concrete along one line will not add to theweakness along the other. At the same time IBCI I have practicallyincreased the number and reduced the size of the m'eshes by arrangingthe wires in staggered order. I thereby get as great tensilestrength-that is, strength of the metalas if a single fabric were Usedwith double the number of wires, and as great a compressivestrength-that is, strength of the concrete-as if but one sheet of fabricwith the large mesh were used. Figs. 3 and 4 show this most clearly, thelower Sheet of fabric being indicated at E and the upper sheet at E',and both t-he wires e' and eg being staggered so as to produce, ineffect, a fabric having four meshes in place of the single mesh whichexists in each fabric.

The wire fabric is stretched in a continuous sheetacross the entireseries of beams and from wall to wall,`as explained, and thereby tendsto convey the stresses not merely to the I-beams immediately adjacent tothe load, but to some extent beyond such I-beams and eventually to theside walls of the house. It is necessary, therefore, that it be firmlyfastened at its ends, and the arrangement of the ends is shown in detailin Figs. 3 and 4. The short strip of fabric E2 after being embedded inthe wall, as explained above, bears on the top of the I-beam which iswithin the Wall and projects slightly beyond it. The sheets of fabric E'and E are then attached at their ends by ineansof short binding-wires86. The attachment is most conveniently formed by arranging one of thestrips E E' with its wires substantially coincident with those of theshort strip E2. TheWires of the other long strip will of course bestaggered with respect to the short strip.

While I have described with great particularity of detail one embodimentof my invention, it will be understood that the same iscapable ofconsiderable modification by those skilled in the art without departurefrom the spirit of my invention. For example, Fig. 5 shows thearrangement which may be adopted Where the I-beam in the wall isomitted. In this case the concrete structure D is supported at the endadjacent to the wall on the corbel Fr The short strip of fabric E2 andthe two long strips E' and E are arranged as in the other figures. TheI-beams and the depending portion d of the concrete may be arranged asshown in the other figures or in any other suitable manner.

In Figs. 8 and 9 the principle of the invention is shown in applicationto what is called a b1anket-floor, which is entirely above the supports.This type is used generally for very heavy fioors. In these figures Ishow also the application of the invention to caps on the tops of thesupports. The sheets of Wire fabric E E' are preferably embedded inV thewalls A in Fig. 1 and extend continuously from wall to wall over thesupports and through the lower portionv of the concrete D. The fabric,however, does not need to be drooped between the supports, since thesupports do not extend up into the concrete. As

in previous constructions, the straight wires of the fabric extend in adirection between the supports-that is, transversly theretoand thecross-wires for spacing the straight wires extend parallel to thesupports; also, as in the other constructions described, the two sheetsof fabric are separated, and the wires thereof are staggered, asindicated in Fig. 9. A feature of improvement which may be used Whereverthe upper portion of the concretev is above the support and which isespecially adapted to blanket-floors is the use of a Wire fabric, suchas G, to take the tensile Stress existing immediately above the supportsin the upperlayers of concrete. The concrete in such casespforms,ineffect, a continuous plate or beam extending over the support, and istherefore strained in tension in its upper layers above the support andin its lower layers between the supports. The

arrangement of Wire fabric shown therefore provides the most economicalarrangement of netting for resisting' the stresses. This feature of theinvention is applicable also to caps H, of concrete, which may be formedon thepartitions or for main supports A'. The upper layers of the caps Hare reinforced by a sheet J of fabric. Preferably the sheets G and J aremade of the same fabric as the sheets E and E'.

My invention includes also the use of the Wire fabric specified infloors in which a plate of concrete extends across only the lower partof a bay between two I-beams, the fabric for this purpose being extendedover the I-beams and substantially vertically downward to the necessarylevel for embedding in the concrete plate' My invention includes alsothe use of such a fabric embedded in strengthening ribs, beams, orcolumns, the straight wire running in such case in the direction of thelength of the rib, beam, or column.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, are in a floor thefollowing-defined novel features, all substantially as described:

1. In a floor, the combination of supports, concrete molded between saidsupports, and Wire fabric suspended between said supports and embeddedin said concrete, said fabric being composed of straight wires iu thedirection transverse to said supports and crosswires at right angles tosaid straight wires spacing the same andbound thereto at thecrossing-points.

2. In a floor, the combination of supports, concrete molded between saidsupports, and wire fabric suspended between said supports and einbeddedin said concrete, said fabric IIO being composed of straight wires inthe direc- Wire fabric suspended between said supports in the form of acatenary and embedded in said concrete, said fabric being composed ofstraight wires in the direction transverse to said supports andcross-wires spacing said straight wires and bent around the same at thecrossing-points, and binding-wires binding together the straight wiresand the cross- Wires at the crossing-points.

4. In a fioor, the combination with a Wall and a support, of concretemolded between said wall and said support, and a Wire fabric composed oftwo parts one of which is embedded in said wall and projects slightlytherefrom and the other of which is embedded in said concrete, andconnected to said first part and comprises straight wires in thedirection transverse to the support, and cross-wires spaoing saidstraight wires and bound thereto at the crossing-points. 5. In a fioor,the combination with a Wall and a support, of concrete molded betweensaid Wall and said support, and a Wire fabric embedded in said concreteand embedded at one end in said wall, said fabric being composed ofstraight wires in the direction between said supports, and cross-wiresspacing said straight wires.

6. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concrete molded between saidsupports, and sheets of Wire fabric embedded in said concrete, saidsheets being separated and the wires thereof being staggered.

7. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concrete molded between saidsupports, and sheets of Wire fabric embedded in said concrete, saidsheets being separated and the wires thereof being staggered, and saidfabric being composed of straight wires in the direction transverse tosaid supports and crosswires spacing said straight wires.

8. In a fioor, the combination With a wall and a support, of concretemolded between' said wall and said support, and a sheet of Wire fabricembedded in said wall and projecting therefrom, and separated sheets ofWire fabric embedded in said concrete with their wires staggered, saidseparated sheets being connected to said projecting sheet.

9. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concrete caps H forming theupper parts of said supports, concrete molded between and over saidsupports, and Wire fabricembedded in said concrete above said supportsand in the upper portions of said caps.

10. In a fioor, the combination of supports,

.concrete molded between and over said supports, separated sheets ofWire fabric embedded in the lower part of said concrete, and shortinterrupted Sections of Wire fabric embedded in the upper part of`saidconcrete above said supports.

11. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concrete molded between andabove said supports, Wire fabric extendng between said supports andembedded in said concrete, and

Wire fabric embedded in the upper part of said concrete at points abovesaid supports. 12. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concretemolded between and above said supports, Wire fabric extending betweensaid supports and embedded in said concrete, and Wire fabric embedded inthe upper part of said concrete at points above said supports, saidfabric being composed of straight wires in a direction transverse tosaid supports, and cross-wires for spaeing said straight wires.

13. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concrete caps H forming theupper parts of said supports, Wire fabric embedded in the upper parts ofsaid caps, and a floor-plate carried by said supports.

14. In a fioor, the combination of supports, concrete molded betweensaid supports, and Wire fabric suspended between and extendingcontinnously over more than two of said supports and embedded in saidconcrete, said fabric being composed of straight wires in the directiontransverse to said supports and cross-wires at right angles to saidstraight wires spacing the same and bound thereto at thecrossing-points.

15. Afireproofstructure comprisingin combination a concrete body and aWire fabric embedded therein, said fabric being formed in continuoussheets to facilitate the building of the structure and being composed ofcontinuous longitudinal and transverse wires crossing each other atright angles, said wires being slender and flexible (as distinguishedfrom stout rigid bars or rcds) and at frequent intervals, so as toobtain a reinforce of great tensile strength'and at the same time reduceto a minimum the Weakening of the concrete along the lines of the wiresand the distortion of the metal under heat and to facilitate themanipulation of the fabric in use, and an additional member constitutinga binder of strength approximating that of the wires, binding togethersaid longitudinal and transverse wires at their crossing-points, adaptedto maintain the spacing thereof, said wires being straight between theircrossing-points.

16. A fireproof stueture comprising in combiuation a concrete body and aWire fabric embedded therein, said fabric being formed in continuoussheets to facilitate the building of the structure and being composed ofcontinuous longitudinal wires and continuous single transverse wirescrossing said longitudinal wires at right angles and located Wholly onone side thereof, said wires being slender and flexible (asdistinguished from stout rigid bars or rods) and at frequent intervals,so as to obtain a reinforce of great tensile strength and at the sametime reduce to a minimum the Weakening of the concrete along the linesof the wires and the distortion of the metal under heat and tofaoilitate the manipulation of the fabric in use, and an additionalmember constitnting a binder of strength approximating that of thewires,

IIO

binding together said longitndinal and trans- Verse wires at theirerossing-points, adapted to maintain the spaeing thereof and to transmitto one set the strain on the other set, said wires being straightbetween their crossingpoints. o

` 17. Afireproofstrueture eomprising'in combination a eonerete body anda Wire fabric embedded therein, said fabrie being composed of straightwires in one direetion, crosswires spaeing said straight wires and bentaround the same at the erossing-points, and additional membersconstituting binders binding together the straight wires and thecross-wires at the erossing-points.

In witness whereof Il have hereunto signed my name in the presenoe oftwo subseribing witnesses.

WILLIAM N. WIGHT. Witnesses:

FRED WHITE, ARTHUR O. FRASER.

